Whosoever looketh on a woman

Thurs­day. [Rom. 1:28–2:9; Matt. 5:27–32] Who­so­ev­er looketh on a wom­an… hath com­mit­ted adul­tery with her already (Matt. 5:28). Living in so­ci­e­ty, one can­not help look­ing at wo­men. What to do? A man does not com­mit adul­tery sim­ply by look­ing at a wom­an, but by look­ing at her with lust. Look if you must, but keep your heart on a leash. Look with the eyes of a child — pure­ly, with­out any evil thoughts. One must love wo­men as well, for they are not ex­clud­ed from the com­mand­ment a­bout love of neigh­bour — but with love that is pure, which bears the soul and spir­i­tu­al as­pect in mind. Just as there is nei­ther male nor fe­male be­fore God in Chris­tian­i­ty, so it is in the mu­tu­al re­la­tions of Chris­tians. But this is very dif­fi­cult, you will say. Yes, it does not hap­pen with­out a strug­gle; but strug­gle pre­sup­poses a lack of de­sire for evil. The Lord counts as pu­ri­ty the un­lust­ful de­sire of the mer­ci­ful.